1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention is directed to a packaging cue system that facilitates a consumer's identification and selection of a plurality of consumer products associated with one or more treatment regimens.
2. Description of the Background of the Disclosure
In our increasingly complex and busy world, consumers have many needs regarding upkeep of their homes and businesses, including cleaning, controlling pests, and fragrancing the air. It is common for consumers to use consumer products to assist in accomplishing one or more of these tasks. However, today's consumers are often overwhelmed by the number of consumer products available to them and are unsure about which product would be the most useful for the specific task at hand. Additionally, most consumers are unaware that it is desirable to use at least two, and often more, consumer products together, i.e., a regimen, to achieve a desired outcome or to enhance that outcome. For example, a consumer may be unaware that it is desirable to combine air fragrancing products that are specifically designed for certain rooms of the house (e.g., the kitchen, bathroom, garage, etc.), or to combine fragrancing products with odor eliminating products to effectively fragrance and/or deodorize their homes. When cleaning, a consumer may find it beneficial to combine products that clean, with products that disinfect and shine to enhance the overall cleanliness of their homes.
One household task that would benefit greatly from a product regimen is pest control. Many consumers are worried about using too many pest control products in the home and do not realize that pests could be controlled more effectively and with less active ingredients if the right regimen of products were used. In one example, the regimen of pest control products may include products that attack bugs, products that control bugs, and products that prevent bugs. These products can more effectively control pests in the home when used together. However, many consumers are unaware that these products can be used together.
In all of these non-limiting examples, a single manufacturer, or in other instances a group of manufacturers, may supply the entire stream of consumer products in the regimen for completing a task. However, each consumer product is, in and of itself, a distinct and separate product that provides a utilitarian function and is not substantively connected with the other products except for the fact that it is (or may be) used during the same regimen. As such, many of the consumer products capable of being used in the same regimen are often found on different areas of a store shelf, different shelves, or even in different areas of the store. Thus, consumers often do not realize that certain products can and should be used together to achieve a desired outcome and it is difficult for consumers to locate various products capable of being used together in a regimen.
One way to inform consumers about consumer product regimens is to provide digital media advertisements that explain the regimen to the consumers. Unfortunately, digital advertising such as television commercials are very expensive and do not always reach the targeted consumers. Moreover, digital media and advertisements are not always present at the point of sale when the consumers need the information to make an informed decision about choosing a product or a regimen. A solution to educating consumers at the point of sale is providing in-store displays and advertisements. However, many stores will not allow manufacturers to place large displays in the stores.
Thus, there is a need in the art to facilitate consumer selection of products at the point of purchase (either in store or on-line) to better meet the consumer's needs.